One of the thoughts that came to me during the first reading from Ezekiel and the parable Jesus told in today’s Gospel was, “Am I not a lucky person!” Isn’t it true for all of us? The message in both of these readings highlights how good God is. God gives us another chance when we have made wrong choices. It is up to us, however, to make a shift in our behavior and let God give us the other chance.

The setting for the words from Ezekiel took place in the early part of the sixth century B.C., a time when the Israelites found themselves as exiles in a strange land, Babylon. As a nation they had been defeated by the Babylonians and were taken captive. Reflecting upon their past, they had little hope for the future, but the prophet, Ezekiel, kept boosting their morale. Despite any wrong-doing on their part, the people were encouraged to look at the possibilities that were theirs. They had the power to choose a different way of living, to distinguish right from wrong, to sort out righteousness from wickedness and to search out the possibilities for a better future. Ezekiel let them know that God would never give up on them. If the people really listened to the prophet and the promptings of God’s presence in their lives, they knew that another chance was on their doorstep.

What great hope lies in this story for us! If we have taken wrong turns in life, God is always ready to receive us back. God is a God of “second chances.”

The same message comes to us in the gospel reading from St. Matthew. Jesus directs a question to the chief priests and elders of the law in the form of a parable regarding two sons who were invited by the father to go into the vineyard for work. As the story goes, one refused, but later changed his mind and fulfilled his father’s wishes.

The other said yes but never followed through.

Since the chief priests were responsible, as it were, for upholding the law, they were often quick to pass judgment on others. So yes, they were able to give Jesus the right answer when asked which son responded with integrity to the father’s request. But, Jesus pointed out to them that in real life it was actually the tax collectors and prostitutes who changed their lives when invited to do so by John the Baptist and Jesus, not the law-abiding, arrogant Pharisees and chief priests.

The latter were too concerned with the exterior observance of laws and pointed fingers on those who were not of their ilk. In a way Jesus made this point clear when he told the parable of the two sons, how, like one of the sons, God gives us a second chance when we reverse direction in life. When we follow this nudge given us by God, we are listening and coming into touch with the truth of God’s powerful love and openness. Let us ask ourselves—have there been experiences in our lives when we received another chance after making a really lousy decision? Or further, do we have an open mind and heart like God to give other people a chance when they “goof” up? I suspect there are times in family life when either our spouses or children make decisions that are not thought out and we get annoyed and upset by what we consider poor judgment.

I invite you to take to heart the behavior of Jesus who accepted the sincerity and repentance of the tax collectors and sinners. Jesus accepted them for what they were and stressed how they changed. God knows how to forgive, how to give second chances. Do we?

In the psalm response to the first reading today, we see how the psalmist pleads with the Lord to make known his ways and to teach him how to follow the path to life. It might be good for us to take a closer look at this prayer and make it our own. It is a real acknowledgment of God’s kindness and mercy. The psalm highlights this especially in these words:

I know of your mercy, Compassionate One, and of your steadfast love. You have been with me from the beginning. Forgive the many times I have walked away from you choosing to walk alone. With your steadfast love, once again, Companion me along your way. (Taken from Psalms for Praying by Nan C. Merrill)

May you and your family and friends experience this love and mercy of God and extend it to each other, especially during this coming week.

Queen of Angels and St. Matthias join forces for RCIA, the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, and Tuesday evening group sessions will alternate between the two parishes. Sessions will begin soon. Call the Parish Center at 773-539-7510. The schedule below provides a partial glimpse into the scope and variety of the program:

CENTENNIAL KICK-OFF Fr. Jim Kaczorowski, along with Deacon Ben Nieves and Fr. Tom Lamping, joined members of the combined choirs and approximately 125 participants during last Saturday’s Centennial Kick-Off Mass in the school courtyard. More pictures from the Mass and Second Annual Harvest Jam in next week’s Guide.

FRANCISCAN OUTREACH THANKS Thank you all so very much for your most generous donation of the nine bags of various hotel size toiletries to Franciscan outreach Association for our guests.

Because of wonderful, giving friends like you, organizations like ours that depend on donations to help the poor and homeless of Chicago are able to do so. Thank you for supporting our programs and caring about our guests.

May God continue to bless you and your loved ones for all the good works you do.

—Father Manuel Borg, Franciscan House of Mary & Joseph

STUDENTS FOR LIFE High school seniors and college students are invited to the October 4 Students for Life of Illinois conference at Northwestern University. For details or to register, check out www.SFLILLINOIS.org.

ROSARY HOLY HOURS BEGIN FRIDAY October is Respect Life Month and the Month of the Rosary. Please join the Queen of Angels Respect Life Committee for bilingual Friday night holy hours on October 3, 10, 17 and 24. Meet in the church at 7 p.m. on Friday, October 3, for the first hour of reflection with the Blessed Sacrament and the praying of the rosary.

POLA WALK FOR LIFE The Parishes of Lincoln Avenue (POLA) will host the fifth annual Walk for Life Walk-a-Thon on Saturday, October 11. Registration for the three-mile walk will be from 9 to 10 a.m. in front of Transfiguration Church, 2609 W. Carmen, on the day of the walk. Registrants with a pledge of at least $15 will receive a t-shirt. Call Patti Corbitt at 773-275-8044. Pre-register and/or get details at www.northsiderespectlife.com.

BLUE RIBBON SCHOOLS For the second year in a row, several Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools were named as U. S. Department of Education No Child Left Behind—Blue Ribbon Schools, representing the most from any school system in the nation this year. Congratulations to St. Viator High School (Arlington Heights), Cardinal Joseph Bernardin Elementary School (Orland Hills), Pope John XXIII School (Evanston), Queen of All Saints School (Chicago), St. James School (Arlington Heights) and St. Mary School (Buffalo Grove).

HIGH SCHOOL OPEN HOUSES -- Resurrection College Prep High School for Young Women, 7500 W. Talcott, invites junior high students and their families to attend an Open House for Prospective Students. Staff and students will be on hand to discuss the school’s programs. Open Houses are from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, October 1 and Thursday, November 6. Shadow Days are also available. Call 773-775-6616, ext. 129. -- Guerin College Prep High School, 8001 W. Belmont, will host two Open Houses and six Shadow (or Gator) Days for junior high students. Open Houses will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, October 19 and from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, December 4. Tours will be conducted. Teachers and current students will be on hand. Gator Days are open to eighth grade students on Tuesdays, October 21 and 28; November 4 and 11; and December 2 and 9. Call 708-453-6233, ext. 4732.

COMMONS TO HONOR ST. FRANCIS The next Commons service project will honor the Feast of Saint Francis by assisting animals. PAWS Chicago and Red Door Animal Shelters need donations to help the many dogs, cats, rabbits and more they care for until the animals can find homes. Red Door also helps many people who need assistance to feed their pets.

Through October 3, Commons will be collecting small jars of turkey or ham baby food for puppies; new or gently used towels, crates and carriers; paper towels; laundry and dish detergent, hand soap and bleach; white vinegar, cotton balls and paper plates. Please bring donations to the school or parish office.

All are invited to a blessing of family pets at 8:20 a.m. Thursday, October 2 in the school courtyard.

For more information, contact Denise Lynch at lynchm8783@sbcglobal.net. Commons is the parent- teacher-parishioner organization connecting the parish school and the community.

THE THEOLOGY OF THE BODY: SEVEN STEPS TO HAPPINESS Can it be so easy? Come hear Tom Howard (Youth Ministry Coordinator for Vicariate IV) talk about how to find happiness in your relationships through seven simple steps. Join us from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, October 1 in the Voss Parish Center, 4412 N. Western. The subject matter, based on Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, is appropriate for ages 18+. Call 773-539-7510.

FORTY DAYS FOR LIFE Forty Days for Life is a prayerful effort to convert our nation towards a Culture of Life. The campaign will continue through November 2. Many Chicago churches and organizations have each pledged a day of 24-hour prayer. Our Lady of Lourdes will provide prayer at the Albany Medical Surgical Center, 5086 N. Elston on Thursday, October 9. All are welcome to volunteer. Call Kim Wurthenow at 847-456-8391.

PRAY THE ROSARY The Rosary is prayed every Saturday morning after the 9 a.m. Mass. To lead the Rosary, call Joann at 773-583-1371 or email jasworks@myibocs.com.

ANKLEBITERS BACK IN SESSION! Are you a parent or caregiver of small children? Looking for an activity to break up your week? Join us at Anklebiters! This group is for parents, caregivers and their children aged 3 and under. The group meets between 9:45 and 11:30 a.m. every Wednesday in the school. This is a great way for young families to socialize. Call Julie Buckert at 773-562-4625.

LOW-INCOME SENIOR HOUSING Housing is available for low-income seniors at the Bishop Edwin M. Conway Residence at 1900 N. Karlov. The residence provides supportive living for seniors 65 and over with personalized healthcare. Call 773-252-8578.

WOMEN’S DAY OF PRAYER Join other women for a day of prayer focusing on ”Jesus for Today” from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. October 4 at St. Andrew Rectory, 3546 N. Paulina. Call 708-899-3971.

COME AND SEE SCHEDULED The Dominican Sisters of Springfield will host a free Come and See retreat for single, Catholic women ages 18 to 35 October 3 to 5. The weekend is designed to help participants learn discernment skills needed to make important life decisions. Call 217-787-0481.

GOD’S DREAM FOR MARRIED COUPLES Live in an intimate, committed relationship. The next Worldwide Marriage Counter dates are November 14 to 16 or December 5 to 7. Call 800-442-3554.

THAT WE MAY HAVE PRIESTS... How many times in our lives has a priest brought healing to us and to our families?

How many times has a priest celebrated the liturgy on Sunday, throughout the week and at special parish and family celebrations, bringing Christ to us through the Eucharist?

How many times has a priest stood with us in joy at the birth of a child, at our beside in the hospital, or in sorrow at the death of a loved one?

Let us pray for vocations to the priesthood; that we may have priests whose lives are directed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the service of God’s people.

Thank you for your ongoing prayers and financial support for this week’s collection for the Seminary System of the Archdiocese of Chicago.

The prophet Isaiah speaks to us today about the immeasurable depth of God’s love and how the ways of God are very different from our ways. The prophet Isaiah is writing this to the people of his own time because he saw them turning away from God because of things that were happening to them. Isaiah lived at a time when Israel was invaded by the Assyrians and his people carried off to Assyria. The people were dismayed because they wondered where the protection and love of God was during this time when their lives were destroyed and their families dispersed. Isaiah implores the people not to forsake their faith in the Lord, as that is where their strength for the trial comes from. He reminds them that the ways of God are not always understood and that even though it may seem that God has abandoned them, God’s love is still with them and will be made clear in God’s own time.

Let him turn to the LORD for mercy; to our God, who is generous in forgiving. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:7-9).

As we read these words of Isaiah the prophet, who lived thousands of years ago, we might ask ourselves, “What possible relevance can these words have for us today?” After all, we live in a modern city in the modern world where we don’t have Assyrians, or anybody else for that matter, overrunning us. But we can’t deny the fact that our world is a lot more complex than the world of Isaiah; one in which countries vie for power and prestige. It is a world where religious ideologies clash each day and where the presence of God can be obscured by the conflicts that constantly demand our attention. It is a world where religious beliefs struggle to find a place among the secular.

Last weekend our Holy Father Benedict XVI visited Paris and spoke of this very issue to political leaders and citizens alike. He challenged political leaders to allow room for religious influence in political life; he challenged intellectuals to recognize the partnership of faith and reason; he challenged young people to live their faith openly; he even challenged the sick to unite their suffering to the cross of Jesus. The Holy Father reminds us, as Isaiah did, to remember that our faith is where we find the strength to face the difficulties of our lives.

In his words Pope Benedict is a bit like a modern day Isaiah in reminding us that we must not abandon the challenge to integrate our faith into our every day concerns. The ways of God are not our ways and we cannot always understand God’s plan for us, but we must believe that it will eventually be made clear to us.

One of the challenges of our faith is to learn to live with the fact that we don’t understand everything clearly. At time we catch glimpses of God’s plan clearly, and at other times we must be content with the fact that God’s ways are not clear.

However, in the Gospel reading, Jesus teaches us something of which we can always be sure. The love of God is not something that we can earn, but is something that is given freely and equally to us all. In the parable of the workers in the vineyard, the owner of the vineyard (God), pays his workers (Us) equally despite the fact that not all of them have worked the same amount of hours.

In our world, where we often learn that our rewards are not freely given but rather are earned, it is difficult for us to fathom that the love of God is given to us freely and not earned. This is another example of God’s ways are not our ways and the God’s thoughts are not our thoughts.

The message of the readings today is wonderful. God loves us with a love that is beyond human understanding. God’s love is constant and does not depend on how much we feel that we may or may not deserve it. It is given without cost. In a world where we say that nothing is free, this message of God’s love is pretty amazing and wonderful.

Next weekend we again celebrate Seminary Sunday in all the parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Chicago. In fact, we celebrate the lives of the many priests who serve you so faithfully each day and those who are preparing to serve you with that same charity in the future. The love of a priest for his people makes present Christ’s love for His Church.

The seminary is the place where the vocation to the priesthood is nourished and grown. Pope Benedict XVI, in a message to seminarians at World Youth Day in 2005, captures the essence of what we celebrate this Seminary Sunday:

“Dear friends, this is the mystery of God’s call, the mystery of vocation. It is part of the life of every Christian, but it is particularly evident in those whom Christ asks to leave everything in order to follow him more closely. The seminarian experiences the beauty of that call in a moment of grace which could be defined as ‘falling in love.’ His soul is filled with amazement, which makes him ask in prayer: ‘Lord, why me?’ But love knows no ‘why’; it is a free gift to which one responds with the gift of self.

“The seminary years are a time of journeying, of exploration, but above all of discovering Christ. It is only when a young man has had a personal experience of Christ that he can truly understand the Lord’s will and consequently his own vocation. The better you know Jesus the more his mystery attracts you. The more you discover him, the more you are moved to seek him. This is a movement of the spirit which lasts throughout life, and which makes the seminary a time of immense promise, a true ‘springtime.’”

As our seminarians spend years in formation and discernment, I thank you for your financial contributions which provide them with the environment to “prepare well” to serve God’s faithful for years to come. I ask you to pray for them and for those whom God is now calling to the ordained priesthood from among our families and friends.

Finally, I pray that God will continue to bestow on you and your families His choicest blessings for your generosity to the seminarians. You are in my prayers, and I ask you to remember me and our Archdiocese in your prayers each day. Thank you.

LOW-INCOME SENIOR HOUSING Housing is available for low-income seniors at the Bishop Edwin M. Conway Residence at 1900 N. Karlov. The residence provides supportive living for seniors 65 and over with personalized healthcare. Call 773-252-8578.

CHILDREN’S LITURGY OF THE WORD The 9:30 and 11:00 Sunday liturgies offer an opportunity for children to hear the readings and prayers of the Mass in words that are familiar to them. The Children’s Liturgy of the Word is designed for children ages 3 through 5th grade. It is an option for families who would like their children to get more out of the experience of the liturgy. Young children are engaged in prayer and reflection in a liturgical experience that parallels that of their parents and older siblings through the readings, the homily, and prayers of the Mass.

Children are blessed by the priest before the First Reading, walk together downstairs to the Children’s Liturgy chapel space, and return to their families in the congregation later in the Mass. The reunion of families in time for the consecration and Communion is a sign of the union of the Church in this holy sacrament. We are excited to be able to welcome some of the youngest members of our family of faith in this special way.

If you would like to volunteer as a catechist, contact Tonia Arrington (9:30) at tonia_arrington@hotmail.com or Teresa Fett (11:00) at 773-728-7637.

SEVEN STEPS TO HAPPINESS All are invited to hear Thomas Howard, Vicariate IV Youth Ministry Coordinator, when he presents the Seven Steps to Happiness at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 1 at Queen of Angels Parish Center, 4412 N. Western.

Find out how to enrich an existing relationship, rejuvenate a tired one, or be ready for a new connection. Receive tools to help you instill in your children an understanding of love that outshines what they see on TV. Grounded in Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, this talk provides a foundation for a journey of human communion that leads ultimately beyond ourselves—straight to God. Call 773-539-7510.

MUSIC THROUGH THE AGES St. Benedict Music Series will present the first in a series of concerts, Music Through the Ages, featuring Kathleen Kim, and other performers. Works of Bach, Handel, Mozart, Massenet, Franck and Donizetti will be featured at 8 p.m. Friday, September 26 in the church, 2215 W. Irving Park. For tickets and info, call 773-588-6484, ext 203. Tickets are $13 (advance) and $17 (at the door); $10 for students and seniors.

WOMENSHARE ON HEALTHY DIET Health Benefits of a Mediterranean Diet and a Cooking Demo and Tasting will be featured at the next Womenshare meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, September 25 in the St. Matthias School Hall, 4910 N. Claremont. Refreshments will be served based on recipes provided. For more info, contact Womenshare@att.net.

BEAT MEETING SET Citizens residing between Lawrence and Montrose and Damen and the Chicago River are invited to attend the next Beat 1911 meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, September 23 on the sixth floor at Kindred Hospital, 2544 West Montrose.

WOMEN’S DAY OF PRAYER Join other women for a day of prayer focusing on ”Jesus for Today” from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. October 4 at St. Andrew Rectory, 3546 N. Paulina. Call 708-899-3971. The event is sponsored by the School Sisters of Notre Dame. Fee is $10.

“FIREPROOF” MOVIE OPENS FRIDAY Fireproof is a movie about a firefighter who learns that some rescues are closer to home than others, and the real meaning of “never leave your partner behind.” The movie will open September 26 and has been given good reviews and an A-II rating (appropriate for adults and adolescents) by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Visit www.fireproofmymarriage.com.

There will be no 5 p.m. Mass celebrated on Saturday, September 20, 2008.

Instead, please join us that afternoon for our 3 p.m. Centennial Kick-Off Mass, outdoors in the school courtyard. Help us bring the Eucharist back to the site of our parish's first church structure as we remember our roots and look forward to the future of our Queen of Angels community.

Join us afterward for food, fellowship and tons of fun at our Harvest Jam festival in the parking lot from 4 to 10 p.m.